HANDICAP

“Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits.”

-Psalm 103:2

You may have read it yourself – about 18 year old Paul Whittaker who entered Oxford University where he will study for a music degree. Whittaker though, is different from most college students. He is totally deaf since birth, yet he has served as Church organist and choirmaster and will absorb lectures by reading lips.

Dr.Adeline Becht is also a woman who should never have succeeded. As she marched to the speaker’s podium to receive her doctorate in clinical and counseling psychology, thousand of well-wishers at the University of Oregon stood on their feet and cheered.

She had become separated from her parents at age 14 and spent most of her youth in juvenile homes, where she was introduced to drugs and heroin which eventually damaged her sight. To support her drug habit, Becht turned to street crime. Eventually she kicked the drug habit but become an alcoholic. In 1969, she was declared legally blind. All of this is behind her now.

There are others – Helen Keller who was deaf and blind; Thomas Edison who lost his hearing at age 12; Fanny Crosby who was blind most of her life and became one of Christianity’s greatest songwriters; Joni Eareckson, the paraplegic young woman whose ministry has blessed thousands. Now, all of them could have just quit, given up, and vegetated – but they didn’t.

The greatest handicaps are not those that impair hearing or speech. The great handicaps are those of the spirit and soul that keep God from working in your life. Think about it.

God Bless Your Heart.

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